Garlic – to fleece or not to fleece

[gareth_parryMember]

Apologies if this has been asked before, but interested to know if anyone fleeces their garlic. In darkest Ayrshire the frosts have arrived, and whilst the shoots look quite hardy I would be annoyed to lose the crop for the sake of some fleece.

[charlesModerator]

 I would not but Somerset frosts are milder than Scottish ones. Mine has been fine down to -10C.

Fleece might help it to grow away better in spring, rather than protecting it from cold nights, maybe put it on in February or ealy March.

[gareth_parryMember]

I tried growing garlic last year, and it was an abject failure. However since your course, and concentrating on producing almost industrial quantities of compost things have been rocketing out of the ground…except of course, weeds!

[charlesModerator]

 Sorry I had not remembered your name from the course in May, and hope you are survivng the wind which you commented on.
That is so good about your results from using compost, it does feel miraculous sometimes, especially the home made variety with lots of fungi, which you must be benefiting from..

[gareth_parryMember]

The real benefit was the impetus which the course gave us to make changes here.

All food waste goes to a wormery and an insulated (and rat proof) hot bin. Cardboard and paper waste is shredded and composted. We also use batch hot composting, which produces our best and largest quantities yet. Green manure is sourced from a comfrey bed. We’re even experimenting with sheeps wool – a longer project!

The winter is seeing two edible shelter belts being planted to mitigate the wind, and phase one of an orchard. Next year, a polytunnel should go in and several raised beds. Only then can the real experimentation begin!

[compostpopeParticipant]

Hi Gareth

Your garden sounds very promising and exciting.

I am interested in your hot bin – did you buy it already insulated or did you do it yourself? If it was DIY – what did you use?

Compostpope

[gareth_parryMember]

Hi Compostpope

I bought a hotbin from http://www.hotbincomposting.com/ To its credit it works well. Today the external temperature was -5C at 0700 yet the Hotbin was working at 65C. It takes all our food waste (cooked and uncooked) and in two/three months produces a workable mulch. A further four weeks in a normal bin produces a good quality compost.

Downside to it is that it is relatively small, and it is expensive for what it is. I have thought about building one for other waste and only got as far as thinking that structural insulated panels (low U value and the sort used in Passivhaus developments) would be the way to go.

However for our garden the most cost effective route would be to expand the wormery for food waste and continue with the Berkeley type hotcomposting for general garden waste.

Interested to know how others have approached this – I am only 6 months into Charles’ no dig approach, so a complete novice.

Best

Gareth

[compostpopeParticipant]

Thanks for that link – the hot bin looks impressive but with the extra cost of postage out here to Switzerland it’s too expensive for me. I took a peek into my (uninsulated) compost bin yesterday and it’s gone cold. I had been planning to insulate it but not come up with a source of insulating material – the panels you mention sound like an interesting option but would have to be weather resistant…

I’ve produced a lot more compost this year by the hotcomposting method but over the winter our kitchen waste will go to our local composting group of which I’m the only member that seems to have a garden (!). Kitchen waste is donated by local householders, then chopped up and mixed with partly composted garden waste from the council. Once spring comes it will be once again turning itself into lovely weed free compost – until then I’ll give composting on my plot a rest and hibernate!

CP

[bluebellParticipant]

Have any of you tried it?

I ask because I was looking at using it for kitchen waste during winter when Im less inclined to go up the allotment every other day.

I believe that the key is the bran that has been impregnated with a micro organism which causes it to ferment, producing little or no smell so it can be done in doors.

[Jane WildingMember]

A friend of mine read about Jean Pain (a Frenchman who delves into heating with compost) and made a small bin about one cubic metre, insulated thoroughly with polystyrene sheeting (pre-loved of course) and duvets and so on, she filled it with seaweed and horse manure and managed to heat a bedroom from a pipe going through it (it was outside the bedroom window so not much heat loss on the way). By-product – very quick and usable compost for the veggies!
How did we get from Garlic to hot composting??
Jane

[gareth_parryMember]

Composting gets you every where Jane!

I have fleetingly thought of cooking food in the hot composter, and only announce the method at the end of the meal. I am confident that (a) the food would be cooked well; and (b) I would not be forgiven for quite some time.

[RosMember]

I have 4 of these bins which I give to friends. They use them and I get them back when they are full so saving landfill and boosting my compost bulk! I have tried them at home to see how they work and must say they do smell when you take the lid off but the smell doesn’t linger too long. You use the impregnated bran and they give off a liquid which canbe used (suitably diluted) as liquid fertiliser or to clean drains but most usefully can be used sparingly instead of the bran as it contains the right bacteria to keep the process going.
If you get the bins and then decide not to use them the best use I have found for them is to put comfrey leaves and/or nettles in to make liquid fertiliser. Certainly worth a try. Some people swear by them, others hate them.

[ashleighParticipant]

here high in the pennines our garlic was fine (just a few yellowed leaves) throughout the cold of last winter & spring. snow and prolonged utterly freezing gales. it was doing great until in june i poisoned it with coal ash (thinking it was wood ash)!

[charlesModerator]

 Commiserations Ashleigh that must have been so maddening, after all it came through, and watching over it. Shows how poisonous coal ash can be.

[ChristineNewbyParticipant]

Hi there, I am new to the forum. I seem to be living in similar climate as yours – hill, mad windy place and cold. We have just moved to the new home and planning to put in an orchard and veg. I am interested to find out what ‘edible shelter belts’ you mentioned? I need to do the same on at least two sides as we live at the brow of the hill. Many thanks.

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